Armenia: Not Interested in Keeping Up with the Kardashians?

Finally, the BBC has devoted a story to the pressing international issue of what the Armenians think about Kim Kardashian, and what Kardashian thinks about the Armenians.

Thanks to her Armenian last name and roots, the American celebrity is big in Armenia.

As the BBC wrote: “Photos of Kim Kardashian are splashed across the front pages of magazine and adorn billboards, the walls of car washes and car parks in Yerevan, the country’s capital.”

But Kardashian’s relationship with Armenia, just like any of her relationships, is a complicated one.

Armenians, like other peoples in the Caucasus, tend to celebrate and embrace anyone or anything that emphasizes their importance for world culture or history.

(Some Georgians, for instance, are still proud that Joseph Stalin was their man; no matter if the dictator was known for misbehavior far worse than that imputed to Kardashian.)

Armenia is not short of famous people of Armenian descent (singer Cher, French bard Charles Aznavour, billionaire Kirk Kerkorian), but the nation is divided over Kardashian.

Some ordinary Armenians, though, find it hard to identify with Kardashian. Her flamboyant ways could not be more different from the customs of this traditional Caucasus country, where, as elsewhere in the region, restraint and demureness are expected of women, and females having sex before marriage (much less recording home sex videos) is frowned upon.

Granted, not everyone, especially younger people, thinks that way about the 32-year-old personality, the BBC reports.

But if she wants to be loved unconditionally by all Armenians, Kardashian will either have to change her ways to become more Armenian or Armenia has to become more Kardashian. The latter option looks less likely.